[Cynthia] Last episode, we talked all about drying flowers and making plants last for not just a little bit, but longer.

So now the question is, what are you gonna do with all these beautiful dry plants that you have?

Stick 'em in a vase?

That's like half the fun.

[Herbs] You could.

(laughs) But why would you do that when you can make a wreath?

(bright cheerful music) I have Jenny Saling, who is The Happy Herban on social media and my BFF in real life, who is the queen of dried flower crafting, and crafting in general.

Which, I am not a crafter.

I'm a grower, not a crafter.

She made this beautiful wreath in like, a hot flash to show you all how awesome you can turn dried flowers into.

[Herbs] You're underestimating yourself.

- Mm-hmm-hmm, Herbs.

- You could do this, anyone can do this.

- This is what she says.

We shall see.

(Jenny laughs) So, she is gonna walk us through step by step of how you can take these creations, not just put 'em in a vase, but make your house full of grace.

(Jenny laughs) Of course, I had to find some stupid pun.

I gotta give a shout-out to my favorite sponsors, Merit Medical and Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, for making Modern Gardener and these episodes possible.

And you!

Let's start with our medium.

- [Jenny] What we're working with today.

- [Cynthia] What you're working with, yes.

- There are so many types of backings that you can use, but today we're using a gold wreath backing.

It's super simple.

- Okay, I like simple.

- It's very small.

- Yes.

It's easy to work with for smaller flowers.

- Okay, perfect.

- And we're gonna work with some floral wire, 24 gauge.

- Okay.

Okay, so what I like to do first is wrap my twine around my wreath backing.

- [Cynthia] How many times are you doing that?

- [Jenny] About 10, just so that it's nice and solid, okay?

- Okay.

Okay, - So, the three main tips for building a wreath like this.

- Got it.

- Tip number one, don't ever cut your wire.

Work all the way around.

Don't ever cut your wire.

- I think you said that first because you know how quick I am.

- Don't ever cut your wire.

(Cynthia laughs) - Tip number two, keep moving forward.

If you don't keep moving forward, you get all bunched up in one spot and it gets really floppy.

- Again.

'Kay.

These are all my fears.

I'm not good with this, okay.

- Tip number three, if you love fresh flowers, you will love dried flowers.

It's exactly the same way as building a fresh bouquet.

You got filler, you got filler flowers, and you have your focal flowers.

Just, rules of three.

- Okay.

- Okay, so let's get goin'!

Let's pick some filler.

We got some nice fluffy- - Filler.

- [Jenny] Yeah, this is like your greenery, right?

In a vase.

So we take one of these then we take some filler flowers that maybe are smaller, like some of this lavender.

- I'm gonna show some- I wanna show something off, Herbs.

- Okay?

- 'Kay.

- We're waiting on- - Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

- Beautiful something.

- So, I kind of wanna show difference.

- Okay.

- I have a difference.

- Oh, yes!

- So this was actually dried in silica.

- [Jenny] Okay.

- [Cynthia] And then this was hung dried.

- [Jenny] Ah, I see!

- [Cynthia] So I'm seeing like the different texture as you're working with it.

- [Jenny] Yeah.

- [Cynthia] It's definitely more crispy on this end.

- Mhmm And this is a little bit softer, more moldable.

- [Jenny] Yes.

- [Cynthia] But you can see- let me separate one of these.

Kind of different.

So, hung dry, silica dry.

- Mhmm - Yeah.

- So, just different textures.

- [Jenny] This might be a little more difficult to work with if you're gonna wrap twine around it.

'Cause it's more brittle.

- Uh-huh.

This has a little bit more of a forgiving nature.

- [Cynthia] Okay.

Alright.

- So, we're starting with our big, fluffy filler.

We're gonna add some filler flowers, we're gonna use lavender.

I'm gonna tuck that right on top.

And then, maybe we'll use a little bit of grass.

So we'll start with some of this.

'Kay?

Put that right on top.

And what we're gonna do, is we're just gonna wrap.

Wrap toward the inside - Are you wrapping super tight?

I'd probably be a tight wrapper.

- Wrap tight, yeah.

But you don't wanna break your stems.

So, you wrap two or three times around and then you can snip your stems so that you have essentially a six inch... - [Cynthia] Like, boutonniere.

- [Jenny] A boutonniere, exactly.

Okay?

- 'Kay.

Got it.

- [Jenny] So, we've got our filler and our filler flowers.

Now let's do some focal flowers, like something really fluffy and pretty.

Maybe one of these?

- Oh yeah!

- Right?

- I foraged this.

- You did?

- I'm a forager.

- [Jenny] What is it?

It's beautiful!

- I had to look it up.

It's rabbit bush.

- [Jenny] Ooh!

- [Cynthia] It's up by a little reservoir called Little Dell.

- Oh, I love that.

- And I go up there and like retreat.

So I did do some foraging, which is an awesome way... You can always forage for some amazing products to dry.

- I love that, yes.

- [Jenny] Great tip.

- [Cynthia] But yeah.

- [Jenny] How about some of your mums there?

- Oh, I'm gonna show you.

'Kay, so these mums were not dried in silica.

They were hung dry and they kind of like- They're still very cute, but they're not gonna be that, like- - [Jenny] But they're gonna tuck in really nicely.

So, we're gonna give that right there.

Gonna snip our stems.

- [Cynthia] See, that's where I would make the mistake and I would snip the wire.

I just thought that.

I'm like, okay, we're gonna snip the- (laughs) - Don't snip the wire.

- You're gonna go all the way around, okay?

- Don't snip.

'Kay.

- [Jenny] And then we're just gonna keep on going with the same theme.

(cheerful music) - Snip.

What's next?

- Oh, I don't know, we goin' in the same pattern?

Do I go pattern?

- Yes!

- Okay, 'kay.

- How about some of this- - What'd you call it, rabbit?

- So, I'm gonna go- - Rabbitbush.

- Okay, but hold on.

You need your rabbitbush first.

That goes down next.

- Ohh!

- I am not good with following patterns.

I've never been good (Jenny laughs) at the pattern game.

- You just look at what you did before and repeat it.

- Okay.

- There you go.

Stick it on.

- I love that you're- - Stick it on top.

Boop.

(Cynthia laughs) - There ya go!

- Can you- - Don't be afraid of it.

- Can you hold my hand just a little more?

- Yep.

- Help, I'm a lefty.

- [Jenny] You got it.

Good!

- Okay.

Okay, okay.

- [Jenny] Then snip.

- And then- Not the wire.

- [Jenny] Not the wire.

Just the stems.

- I am loving how this is looking.

(cheerful music) - Okay.

Now, if you wanted, if you were gonna go all the way around, you could add another color in here.

- 'Kay.

- Okay?

So, I kinda like this purple.

- Yeah?

- So that's pretty fun.

Let's use some of this purple statice and we'll add a little pop of color in here.

- 'Kay.

- And we'll just remember that we have two of these and one of these.

- 'Kay.

- [Jenny] And this is nice and fluffy, we're covering our mechanics as we go.

Just making sure that we have everything in a nice fluffy bunch.

- [Cynthia] Now what happens if you don't have, like, what if you run out - Enough?

of material?

'cause I only got three of these little babies left.

- Well that's okay.

Then you just start with something new and you can also think, "Okay, I've got five of those, maybe I put in a couple of different flowers," and you know, have 'em - [Cynthia] Oh, okay.

- on opposite sides.

- So have them on opposite side - Yeah.

There's all kinds of options.

- It's your wreath, it's your door.

- That's right!

- You will be judged for what you put on it.

(Jenny laughs) - [Jenny] Alright, we're cooking with gas now!

- [Cynthia] Look, it almost looks like a head.

- It does.

- Like a little funky feather head.

(Jenny laughs) - This is cool.

- Alright.

- It's kind of fun stuff.

- So tuck that in there.

This is a little bulky, so I'm gonna go ahead and wrap.

- Okay.

- What is the wreath sayin' to ya?

There ya go.

- Well, It's saying, - Yep.

"Break that off."

- Yep.

- [Cynthia] And it's saying, because I'm like- Well, so that's kind of a struggle.

I'm struggling.

I want it to go like that.

- Okay.

- I just don't know if I can make it do that.

- [Jenny] It's probably a good idea to keep it flat.

- [Cynthia] 'Kay?

- [Jenny] And if you have to bend your stem, you can bend it a little bit down here.

- 'Kay.

- [Jenny] Well, it broke.

But... these are hardier than they look.

- That's the beauty of dry flowers.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- [Jenny] And if they fall apart, you just add a little bit more.

- [Cynthia] One thing I am gonna mention, it gets messy.

- It gets messy.

- It gets messy.

So... - But that's all right.

- Again, I'm not a good pattern person, so I'm saying this out loud.

- [Jenny] Well, that's okay.

You can just look back at what you've already done.

- Oh, I never look back.

It's always forward.

(Jenny laughing) I'm always forward, Herbs.

(both laugh) - Okay.

(Jenny spitting) (both laughing) - [Cynthia] Got some grass in your mouth?

Okay, here we go.

- Mm, tasty.

- [Cynthia] So, was that right?

- [Jenny] Yep.

Have you ever made a wreath before?

- I have not.

- You haven't?

- No, I've never made a- I'm not crafty!

- [Jenny] Well, we all have our skills.

- [Cynthia] Yes, yes.

Okay, alright.

So, this is looking good.

- Beautiful.

- [Jenny] Yeah, let's add some more purple in there.

- So this is turning out so great.

I love how like, soft and delicate this grass makes it and just all the different textures.

I think something big about wreath making, or at least what I'm learning, is it's about texture.

- Like, color and texture.

- Absolutely.

Yep.

- So when you're looking at the dried materials that you're trying to bring in, - Mhmm you really gotta diversify.

I guess it goes back to your, what was it?

- More is more?

- More is more.

(laughs) More is always more.

(laughs) Let's add some more.

- [Jenny] Yes!

More is more.

And you just jam it in there.

Really.

Just make sure that it's all snuggled up because we're not cutting our wire, which means that we can't go back in this.

- Okay.

So there's no reverse, you just keep moving forward.

- You just keep on keepin' on.

- Keepin' on.

- Okay, I'm gonna snip this, - Yep.

I'm gonna take my turn.

- Good.

- So, that is something- Uh-oh.

- [Jenny] So, you wanna tuck it in to the side and snuggle it up, so you're not covering - Okay, so this is changing, up your focal flowers.

And that's okay.

See, that's gonna fall apart, we'll just add another one in.

- Wait.

- [Cynthia] I'm gonna snip.

- [Jenny] Yep.

- [Cynthia] Snip, snap, snap.

- [Cynthia] Here we go, 'kay?

- I'm gonna give it another yank.

- Oh, yes.

(laughs) - [Jenny] And we'll stick another yellow one in there.

Since that one is kinda... - Yes.

- [Cynthia] Yeah, just to give that vibrancy.

- [Jenny] There we go.

Yeah.

So I think we're almost done.

We can do a half wreath here and use ribbon.

If you're not gonna finish the wreath all the way around, a good rule of thumb is to make your last bundle of stems a little bit longer, so that they hang off in a nice way.

- Ohh.

So they hang off in a- - Okay.

Perfect.

- Yep.

- So, if you do this all the way around, you just need to have bravery in the end.

That is the one key to finishing a wreath.

A finished wreath should take you about an hour to do with garden flowers like this.

It really is - Okay.

a little bit of a time commitment.

- Well, it's a craft, of course it's a time commitment.

- Yeah.

- And if you want it to look- Okay and so those are kind of falling apart.

- [Cynthia] Those are sad.

- [Jenny] But that's okay.

- It's okay.

- We'll just - [Cynthia] Get a little- get one more in there.

- [Jenny] smoosh some more in there.

And should we end with some more of your beautiful white mums?

- Oh.

Yeah!

- Yeah.

- We forgot about the mums.

We'll put both of those together.

- [Jenny] Love it.

- [Cynthia] Ooh.

- [Jenny] Now to hide our mechanics, because we're getting toward the end here.

I'm gonna bolster them on either side with a little bit of extra fluff.

- [Cynthia] 'Kay.

Yeah, I guess that would make sense.

- [Jenny] And you wanna keep it tight.

And this is where our ribbon's gonna go.

because this is our last bundle.

I don't know, we might add one more yellow.

What do you think?

See, this is how it works.

- See, it keeps going and then suddenly you're in a full wreath.

Oh, I think you were right on the yellow, - Yeah.

- Yep.

- This is great.

'Kay.

- [Cynthia] So if I were to go the full wreath, I wouldn't have to worry so much about the end.

- [Jenny] No, you just keep tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck, tuckin' all the way.

- Okay.

- [Jenny] 'Kay?

And then when you hit that end point, you'd flip it over and make sure it's just jammed in there really well.

- Okay.

so when you hit the end point, you're gonna jam it in.

- Mhmm, jam it.

- Right in this space.

- So now we have a nice little bundle at the end.

- [Cynthia] Oh my gosh.

- [Jenny] Do we have ribbon?

- I have one piece of ribbon.

- I love it.

Okay.

- One.

- [Jenny] Now first what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take care of this wire.

So I'm gonna flip - 'Kay?

this thing upside down and I'm just gonna tuck it in.

- [Cynthia] Alright.

So just sliding it in the back.

- [Jenny] Yep, Sliding it in the back.

- [Cynthia] Nice.

- [Jenny] Just to hide it.

And you can tie this any way you want.

I like to just do a simple little knot.

- Okay.

So look at this beautiful- I love the structure with the soft and the yellows and the purples.

- [Jenny] It's gonna last for years if you want it to, if you have it inside.

- Uh-huh.

- I typically like to just keep them around for a year because house dust accumulates.

They fade a little bit.

- And let's be honest, styles change.

- Styles change.

- You get your craftiness on, you just save the most beautiful flower - Right.

that you've ever grown in your garden.

- And they are flowers.

- Yes.

Eventually... - They're gonna- - It's time to compost 'em.

- Gonna get crusty and gross.

- And a good excuse to make another one.

- But you could reuse your ring.

- Absolutely.

Reuse your ring.

- So that's great.

- Jenny, thank you so much for showing all of us - Yes!

how you can be as amazing as Jenny at making those beautiful dried wreaths.

And until next time, thanks for watching.

(bright cheerful music) (upbeat music)